By Sarah Fertsch
August is the perfect time to get hooked on crabs. These critters are bountiful along the Jersey bay, and if you are prepared, you can cook up a five-star meal for your family and friends. All it takes is a little effort.
How to Catch Blue Crabs
Everyone has a different tactic, but as long as you can catch crabs, you’ll be successful. As for my family, we use traditional crab traps and raw chicken wings. You can use chopped bunker fish as bait, too. Tie the bait on the inside of the trap, and drop your cages on whatever dock works for you. I recommend having at least three cages in the water at a time. After a couple of hours, surface your cages and see how many crabs you baited! If you got skunked (didn’t catch anything), try a different dock or switch up your bait. The best time to crab is in the early morning (when the crabs are most active).
It’s important to inspect your catch. New Jersey requires crabbers to throw back female blue crabs and any crab that is less than 4.5 inches from point to point (approximately the length of your IPhone). You are limited to catching no more than one bushel per day. Be careful when handling live crabs, especially blues! They will pinch you and not let go.
How to Cook Crabs
Crabs are great because they don’t require much cleaning or additional ingredients! Once you arrive home from the dock, dump your crabs into a large basin of clean water to rinse off any dirt or waste. Start boiling water with lots of salt. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, drop your crabs into the pot (and try not to feel too guilty). Let the crabs cook between 10-15 minutes until they turn orange. Use tongs to transfer crabs onto a large serving plate. Heavily salt the crabs, add a splash of vinegar and copious amounts of Old Bay, and you are ready to crack open and suck out the delicious meat!
Blue Crab Bisque
If you want to get fancy with your fresh crab meat, try your hand at making crab bisque! You’ll wow your crowd, making them feel as if they stepped inside a dockside restaurant!
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of fresh crab meat
- 3 shallots diced
- 2 stalks of celery diced
- 1 carrot diced
- 1 cup of dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 2 cups of clam juice
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons of Old Bay seasoning
- ½ cup of heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Prep, clean, and chop crab meat roughly, and set aside. In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and add diced shallots, carrot and celery. Once veggies have softened, add tomato paste. After three minutes, add white wine and allow for the mixture to reduce for 5 minutes. Once the sauce has thickened, add clam juice, fish sauce, heavy cream and Old Bay seasoning. Reduce the heat and cover, simmering for 20 minutes. Once the soup has thickened, turn off the heat and let rest for 10 minutes. In a large blender, ladle soup and blend in batches until thick, creamy and consistent. Pour back in the pot and turn on medium heat. Pour crab meat into the soup and stir, and add salt and pepper to taste. After five minutes over medium heat, turn off the stove and serve! Add some chopped parsley as a garnish. Enjoy!
